BEACH VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN’S pairings have made winning starts to their medal bids in the 31st Men’s Arab Beach Volleyball Championship 2026, currently being held in Abu Dhabi, the UAE.
The Bahrain A tandem of Hasan Nasser and Jaafar Aljishi beat their Iraq B counterparts and have one game to play in their Pool C schedule of the tournament’s preliminary round; while the Bahrain B duo of Khaled Abdulla and Ali Hussain won both their assignments to secure the top spot in Pool A yesterday.
The kingdom’s squads are part of a nine-team field flying the flags of five nations, including Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, and hosts UAE. A pairing from Yemen were also scheduled to compete, but withdrew prior to the start of action.
In Pool C, Nasser and Aljishi needed to battle back from a set down to triumph in their opening game against Iraq B’s Islam Sachit Matrawi and Ali Hasan Jebur 2-1 (16-21, 21-13, 15-10).
Nasser and Aljishi, who are in prime position to march through to the tournament’s quarter-finals, will next take on Qatar’s Musa Alkeer and Mohamed Ihab, who also claimed a win against Matrawi and Jebur 2-0 (21-18, 21-12).
In Pool A, Abdulla and Hussain kicked off their schedule with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) victory against the Lebanon B duo of Joe El Azzi and Salba Chafic. They then completed a clean sweep of their group schedule after beating the UAE B pairing of Humaid Binsaud and Ali Alsaffar 2-0 (22-20, 21-19), earning them the number one seed from their division as they barged into the elite eight.
Meanwhile, the Lebanon A tandem of Jad Abi Karam and Hadi El Chabib won both their fixtures in Pool B – first against UAE A’s Zayed Bamabad and Rashed Ayoob Hassan 2-0 (21-10, 21-14) and then over Iraq A’s Osamah Sabbar and Hasan Taha 2-0 (21-14, 21-15).
Bamabad and Hassan triumphed in the other clash against Sabbar and Taha 2-1 (22-24, 21-19, 17-15).
The quarter-finals are scheduled to be held today, to be followed by the semi-finals and the gold and bronze medal contests tomorrow.
Bahrain’s beach volleyball duos, coached by veteran Bahraini tactician Mohammed Alshaikh, are competing in the UAE capital having recently had a successful campaign at the first West Asia Volleyball Association (Wava) Beach Volleyball Tour 2026, held earlier this month in Doha, Qatar.
There, Nasser and Aljishi were crowned overall men’s champions, while Abdulla and Hussain secured the bronze medals.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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